Kamloops city council has given the green light for a temporary use, 44 bed, shelter at 142 Tranquille Road.
There was a packed gallery at Tuesday’s meeting with people coming out to voice both support and opposition to the project. The majority did speak against the idea of a wet shelter at the former Butler Auto & RV site siting numerous concerns with safety being the predominant theme.
Rob Guido, the co-owner of Drago’s automotive, says he wants to see some hard lines drawn that can help guarantee safety of the area surrounding his business. “Is it going to help the problem on the North Shore? I want to know that for sure. The beds that are there, are they for the North Shore Community?… Can we ensure those beds on the north shore to be for the North Shore homeless? If that’s the case, I’m in favor for this, because we’re right. We need to help the community. It’s not about my business being affected, but we definitely need to have some hard lines.”
Mitzie Funk says she owns a building that home to a business located at 134 Wilson Street. One of her biggest concerns was the proposed timeline as the way the request was first presented allowed for the temporary use permit to be extended beyond the 20 month timeline.
Councillor Bill Sarai had put forward an amendment, which passed, that and the temporary use permit for BC Housing expire after 20 months from November 26, 2024. That takes it to July of 2026. Originally there was a provision that could have allowed the TUP to be extended.
Councillor Nancy Bepple was not in favor of the amended motion. “The amount of time it has taken us as council and it’s not actually us doing the work, it’s staff and agencies to find a location, was tremendously difficult. We looked at many, many locations, and we’re basically going to be starting from ground zero now to find another location, if we don’t lock in the three years. We looked at so many different locations this, I’ve heard that this is not a great location, actually I think it’s a fantastic location.”
The shelter is also set to be a “wet shelter” which means some drug use would be allowed on site. A number of speakers to council voiced issue with that. But there was some pushback including from Councillor Katie Neustaeter who noted that if it is not allowed at the site, then it is more likely to be seen on the streets and near businesses. “I think if we were to make it dry. The businesses next door would certainly have people smoking meth on their property would certainly have people breaking into sheds, to do what they needed to do.”
Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson wanted to have some assurances street disorder and crime levels will not spike in that neighbourhood once the shelter opens. A response from a BC Housing spokesperson -“it’s not for them to solve this alone.”
Bob Hughes, Ask Wellness CEO who would be operating the site on behalf of BC Housing spoke to the wraparound services that he says are necessary and have been historically lacking in these types of facilities. “Contracted nurse practitioners who are able to prescribe alternatives to fentanyl and other opiates that are killing people on our streets. Our commitment is to try to find a way out of this opiate crisis, and we are doing that by whatever means we can, to show that people deserve the opportunity to get well, to engage in services and to have the wraparound services that we believe are necessary have been committed and have been historically lacking.”
“This access hub is the product of countless organizations and stakeholders coming together to say we are going to do something different. We are going to create pathways to recovery form shelter. I firmly encourage all council members to recognize the need of this shelter, in this location at this desperate time.”
No timeline was formally set for when the shelter will open, but it is expected to happen in December. ARPA Investments, which ownes the property, has signed a 20 month lease agreement with BC Housing for this shelter which will be operated by ASK Wellness.
